Update on Syria revolution -The other side of the coin ignored by the main stream news

An appeal: Where are the Douma Four?

With Eastern Ghouta’s remaining residents in peril like never before, friends and relatives of four renowned civil society activists abducted there in 2013 appeal for their long-overdue release.

As tens of thousands of Eastern Ghouta residents are in the process of being displaced, with more likely to join them; and great numbers placed in temporary shelter centers, subjected therein to physical and socioeconomic humiliation by the Bashar al-Assad regime’s security apparatus; those in the hardest position of all are the Douma Four, the civil society activists abducted and ‘disappeared’ in the besieged enclave four years and four months ago.

All available evidence points to the Jaysh al-Islam (“Army of Islam”) opposition faction being responsible for the abduction of Samira al-Khalil, Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hamade, and Nazem Hamadi, in an effort to impose its authority uncontested over Douma, within a context known also to have involved assassinations and detentions, the many victims of which included Abu Subhi Taha and Abu Nadhir Khabiyya, who faced brutal torture, and were not released until recently, just in time to be displaced along with their neighbors.

We, the relatives and friends of the Douma Four, have requested help from entities of many kinds, after making available to the public the powerful evidence implicating Jaysh al-Islam alone in the abduction, and we regret that we are forced to repeat this appeal for assistance today. We implore everybody, in any and all political, humanitarian, cultural, or religious body, to take responsibility and raise their voice in this regard. Samira, Razan, Wael, and Nazem are not unknown people, neither during the revolution nor prior to it, and their cause is renowned throughout all of Syria and to a large extent around the world. It is inconceivable that the emirate that founded itself on kidnapping, detention, torture, forced disappearance, and assassination should disband today with the fate of its victims remaining a mystery. There is no justice, no conscience, no law, and no cause that could justify those able to speak persisting in silence.